half goal gave Barcelona a 1-0 victory at third-tier Hospitalet Wednesday in the first leg of their Copa del Rey series. Iniesta scored with a long-range shot that dipped out of the reach of goalkeeper Jose Moragon in the 42nd minute on the artificial turf at the Feixa Llarga stadium. Despite a lower-tier opponent, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola sent out a near full-strength lineup that included Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez, David Villa and Carles Puyol, although Lionel Messi is away on international duty. But the third-division hosts did well to repel and limit the Spanish champion's potent attack, which goes into the Dec. 21 return leg with an unexpectedly thin lead. Moragon starred for Hospitalet as Villa, Seydou Keita and Fabregas all tested the Spanish keeper before Iniesta gathered a pass from Fabregas outside the area and stepped up to fire a right-footed shot into the top left corner. Barcelona extended its unbeaten start to the season to 19 games, including Spanish and European Super Cup triumphs. A crowd of 6,294 watched a match that was moved forward to accommodate the European champion's Club World Cup appearance in December. The first leg of the other 15 fourth-round games are scheduled for Dec. 13, with Real Madrid at third-division Ponferradina. Playoffs to begin today Turkey and Croatia meet in the first leg of their European Championship playoff Friday for the first time since a dramatic quarterfinal at Euro 2008. Croatia was leading 1-0 in the final minute of extra time but Turkey managed to equalize in the dying seconds and then won the match on penalties. At the time, Croatia coach Slaven Bilic was furious with the game officials for allowing the added time for Semih Senturk to score the equalizer, but he says revenge is not on his mind as he prepares to face a Turkey team that finished second behind Germany in its qualifying group. “Revenge is a very bad word,” Bilic told Thursday's edition of Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman. “I respect your team, Turkey definitely has a chance ... I would say the odds are currently 50-50.” Since then, both teams failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup and are desperate not to miss out on another major competition. Bilic said drawing Turkey in the eight-team playoffs for the final four places at Euro 2012 was only a problem because of the opposition team's form. “That is why we were not delighted to be matched against Turkey, not because of 2008,” he said. “Turkey is a team which plays very emotionally, like Croatia. I mean this in a positive way.” Turkey will be without Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin, who has only recently returned to action after a long-term injury, as well as Galatasaray fullback Gokhan Zan and midfielder Yekta Kurtulus. Trabzonspor forward Halil Altintop has been included for the first time since a 1-0 qualifying loss to Azerbaijan in October 2010. “We are a team capable of overcoming difficult situations,” Turkey forward Burak Yilmaz told NTV Spor television. “Croatia is a good team but we want a satisfactory result in the first leg at home. We want to overcome the difficulties and qualify for Euro 2012.” Croatia has its own injury problems with Mladen Petric, Ivan Strinic, Niko Krancar and Dejan Lovren all missing. Despite that, Bilic opted not to recall Bolton striker Ivan Klasnic and Dinamo Zagreb captain Milan Badelj. The second leg will be played in Zagreb on Tuesday.
